Kent rower Emily Craig reacts to winning Olympic Gold in the women’s lightweight double sculls.

Pembury-born Craig, with partner Imogen Grant, won gold on Friday morning and there were emotional scenes on the podium after.

The Team GB pair narrowly missed out on a medal four years ago in Tokyo, by 0.01 seconds, finishing fourth.

The crew have been in dominant form over recent years. They have not lost since that fourth-placed finish.

They put that heartache behind them at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.Craig and Grant made up for a slow start in the final to take the lead at the 1,500m marker in the 2,000m race.

In the end, they were well clear of their closest challengers Romania and Greece in third.

Alongside euphoria, there was also relief when they crossed the line. Grant and Craig were supposedly the banker of the Games and, though it was not comfortable, they rarely looked troubled.

At least, that was, until the podium when the emotions all became too much.

“Ugly crying on international TV? Super,” said Craig.

“Every time I thought about the moment, it has brought me to tears and so I had to try and not think about it for a very long time. Was I surprised that was my emotion? No.

“There was pressure, but also confidence. We just had to go out and do something we have done multiple times before.

“We knew we did not have to pull something out of thin air, we just had to race the race plan that we have. It saw us over the line first.

“It was a blur to be honest, it was the quickest race of our lives.”

Craig and Grant were happy to let Romania open up a small lead at 500m but as soon as they hit the throttle, the British pair were gone.

The Romanians upped their stroke rate in the last 250 metres, while Greece’s Dimitra Kontou and Zoi Fitsiou came charging through as well.

But it was too little, too late as Craig and Grant crossed in 6:47:06 – just six seconds off their personal best.

“Not every Olympian gets it right on its first try and we didn’t back in Tokyo,” Grant, 28, said.

“But we have put in so much work and we are much better people this time around.

“I think there was an inevitability to the racing today.”

There certainly was – and the only regret is that this may well be their last race together.

Craig and Grant will not defend their title because the lightweight pairs have been removed from the programme for the next Games in LA, with beach sprints taking its place.

Grant intends to give it a go, but her priorities shift as soon as she gets back to the UK. Just two days after the closing ceremony, she will begin as a foundation doctor in Slough.

Craig added: “It is hard because from a personal level, it is very nice to be the Olympic champions forever.

“It is interesting to see beach sprints come in, I can understand the decision, but it is also a massive shame. Will we ever race together again? Never say never.”

Craig’s the second Kent gold medalist of the Games this week after Nathan Hales kept his cool to win in the trap shooting.

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